Upbeat about India at IATO meet

Sep 13, 2007, 04.19am IST

IATO, celebrating its silver jubilee, held its convention from September 1, 2007 at The Ashok. Livened up by with colourful displays, folk musicians and dance, the meet was chaired by Vijay Thakur and co-chaired by Arun Anand. The 1800 delegates included tour operators, travel agents, hoteliers, restaurants, tourism consultants, government bodies, airlines and other service providers.

Mr Thakur expressed IATO's special thanks to the minister for tourism and her team for the 75% abatement of service tax for the travel industry. Torism minister Ambika Soni, in her inaugural address, said guest houses in Delhi have been regularized and can be registered at one third the regular fee. Regularisation of guest houses have been simplified and in the B&B scheme, electricity and water will be charged at normal, not commercial, rates.

In his keynote address, Lt Governor of Delhi Tejendra Khanna said, "Inbound tourism is growing rapidly and tourists should take back happy memories of their visit. IATO should develop high level of commitment to service." He mentioned Delhi will have a totally new look for the Commonwealth Games.

Delhi Tourism Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely reassured IATO delegates that his ministry will take up the issue of luxury tax on actual tariff and not printed tariff. J&K tourism minister, Mohd Dilawar Mir, Rajasthan's Ms Usha Punia, Sikkim's Mr RB Subba and MP Tourism MD Mr Ashwani Lohani also mentioned IATO's catalytic role in boosting tourism. IATO's Sr. Vice President Major Murli DharT thanked Mrs Soni, all state ministers and guests and requested all delegates to help in drawing up an IATO action plan.

The opening day lunch was hosted by the tourism ministry and the dinner by Delhi's chief minister, Mrs Sheila Dikshit. Foreign participation came from Nepal, Vietnam, China and Kenya.

The Industry Round Table to brainstorm issues affecting growth, challenges and bottlenecks, globally and locally had the heads of IATO, TAFI, TAAI, ITTA, ADTOI, ATOAI, TFGI and UHF taking part, Business sessions included discussions on Indian Tourism - Global Challenges, The Toursim Plan 2020, Managing Growth in Aviation & Tourism, HRD and Capacity Building and Perception of Tourism by the Media and Global Challenges, Madhya Pradesh was declared the most tourism friendly state, and also got awards for Best Booth and Best Video CD by a State. The award for best poster was won by Rajasthan Tourism while the Best Brochure prize went to Uday Tours and Travels. The award for best Video CD by a hotel and Best Brochure by Hotel went to the Taj Group of Hotels and Best Brochure by a State Tourism board was conferred on Indiatourism, North.

In the valedictory session, Mr Praful Patel, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation was honoured with the IATO Hall of Fame Award.